falling sickness en · NOUN
Etymology
Compare these noncognates: Old English fiellesēocnes, German Fallsucht.
Meanings
-
(archaic, uncountable) Epilepsy.
Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foamed at mouth, and was speechless. Brutus. 'T is very like: he hath the falling sickness.
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| falling-sickness | alternative | lexicographic |
Translations (12)
da månesyge (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · nl vallende ziekte (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · da ligfald (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · ru паду́чая (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · cs padoucnice (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · ru паду́чая боле́знь (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · rsk падавица (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · sv fallandesjuka (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · fr haut mal (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · de Fallsucht (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · sv fallandesot (archaic term for “epilepsy”) · da faldende-syge (archaic term for “epilepsy”)